2023-12-11 19:18:13
Demonstrations and snail operations. Taxi drivers mobilized on Monday, December 11, against a change in the rules for medical transport. This system, which benefits people who are unable to get to a medical appointment on their own free of charge, represents 65 million journeys annually (excluding ambulances).
Ecological footprint and cost reduction
Article 30 of the Social Security budget bill, a text adopted on December 1 using “49.3”, provides that the transport of a patient must be carried out as a priority in a collective manner. “When a patient refuses the shared transport offered to them by a medical transport company or an approved taxi company, even though their state of health is not incompatible with such a transport solution”, part of the costs remain his responsibility.
The legislator mentions, in the explanatory memorandum, “reducing the ecological footprint” but also the cost of shared transport, “15 to 35% lower per trip”. Transporting several patients at the same time in an approved taxi allowed health insurance to save 34 million euros last year.
Longer journeys
But with this measure comes a loss of income for many drivers. With, warns part of the profession, the risk of weakening taxi artisans located in rural areas, where they often achieve an overwhelming part of their turnover from the transport of patients. The organizations which represent them also warn against a deterioration in the service provided, because, they insist, patients risk having to wait, before returning home, until another patient has completed their appointment. Likewise, the journey promises to often be longer, made of detours to accompany other patients home.
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